Note:
some of the language, references & attitudes, while acceptable at the time they
were written, are not Politically Correct, today.

Summary:

No
official summary was ever provided with any of the old Tom Swift books. However,
without giving too much away, the plot can be summed up as follows:

Upstate
New York is suddenly in flames! The Shopton fireworks plant and a large
lumberyard go up in a colorful display. A farmer's barn is set ablaze, boats and
trees mysteriously burst into fiery bloom, and finally, a skyscraper in nearby
Newmarket all provide fodder for Tom's latest brain-child, an aerial fire
suppression system.

In
addition to the trials of perfecting a new area of inventive endeavor for
Swift Construction, human interest issues also abound. A research chemist,
working on a new dye formula is swindled, Eradicate Sampson is severely injured
in a chemical explosion, and Tom further ingratiates himself with the Nestor
family, by rescuing not one, but two family members from fiery death..

How all
this transpires, you will have to read the story to determine.

Tom
Swift-Intrepid
inventor & mechanic. Plucky, lively, resourceful, brave and clever.
Home-schooled at a college level by his father, Barton Swift. Athlete and
hunter. Familiar with how to stalk game and firearms. Loves all things
mechanical. Is a decent cook, too.

Ned Newton-Chum
& companion of Tom. No description given. He has resumed his position as Swifts'
financial advisor and CFO of Swift Construction Company.

Eradicate
Andrew Jackson Abraham Lincoln Sampson, A.K.A. Rad-Aged stereotypical Negro journeyman
jack-of-all-trades. "Eradicates dirt." Now is suffering the ravages of old age,
including difficulty moving and "having de misery in his back." Described as
"tottering." Boomerang, his faithful mule, has passed on and gone to
wherever good mules go after a long life. Eradicate has now "become too old to
do much," but remains faithful to Tom and helps out where he can. Constant rival
and antagonist of giant Koku.

Koku-Giant
manservant of Tom. Devoted, loyal, and possessed of great strength, but
apparently somewhat limited cognitive facilities. Described as "simple and child
like," he is antagonist and rival of Eradicate.

Miss Mary
Nestor-Betrothed
love interest who lives on the east side of Shopton, next to a large Flaming
Fireworks Factory. Described as a "fair young woman with flashing brown eyes."
Blushes easily, especially around Tom.

Mr. and
Mrs. (Amos) Nestor-Parents
of Mary. No first names or descriptions, in spite of ongoing, and sometimes
major roles in these stories.

Shopton
Firefighter-No
name or description, other than possible cardiac problems.

Shopton
Hospital Doctor-No
name or description. Ministering to fire victims.

Mrs.
Baggert-Housekeeper.
Kindly, and "loves Tom like a son." Employed by the Swift family for almost 20
years at the time of this story. She is short of stature and has to stand on a
soap box to kiss Tom goodbye on one of his voyages.

Barton
Swift-Widower.
Wealthy and conservative. Inventor master machinist and holder of numerous
patents. In this episode, he is described as "suffering the infirmities of
age," Mr. Swift, has failed in his health of late, and is "all but retired from
business."

Mr.
Wakefield Damon-Elderly
& eccentric adventurer whose main purpose in life seems to be blessing everybody
and everything near his person. Apparently quite wealthy.

GP Doctor-No
name or description. First responder who treats Rad's eyes when he is burned in
a chemical explosion.

Dr.
Henderson, Oculist-NFN
or description. Specialist called in to treat Rad's eyes.

Proprietress, The Meadow Inn Roadhouse-No
name or description. Walk-on role.

Waiter,
The Meadow Inn Roadhouse-No
name or description. Walk-on role.

The Scud is a generic speedy aircraft. It is fitted with Tom's
silencer system, a self-starter, and seems to have a cabin for comfort in
travel.

Lucifer is Tom's aerial fire-fighting platform. It holds 4 passengers
and sufficient extinguisher chemical to douse a large fire. A self-starter and
Swift Silencer, plus dual controls are also mounted. The frontispiece
illustration shows a bi-plane configuration, a la Curtis Jenny, but it must be
much larger to hold 4, plus a bomb load.

Lucifer also carries a Swift designed analog bombsight that allows the
accurate placement of the extinguisher bombs. The sight will compensate for
altitude, A/C speed and wind. Possibly, this is the seed idea for the famous WW2
"Norden Bombsight."

References are made to a future "cabin airplane" and a "hydroplane" able to
land and take off from open water. No parts are played in this story, but a
Flying Boat turns up two episodes into the future.

Commentary on Society, Attitudes, Environment &
Errata

It's amazing how much technology and society have changed. Reading the old
Tom Swift Sr. series has really given me an appreciation of some of the modern
gadgets that I've come to take for granted. Society's attitudes have changed,
greatly, too. I wonder what people will be taking for granted 100 years from
now, and what they will think of our "modern" society and its' mores (or lack
of them...)

Attitudes and Prejudices- Language
usage was "quaint." Alembic ( a still used in chemical purification and
concentration, ) Arnica ( an herbal remedy used to treat sprains & bruising )
and Murolla ( a pastry ) were all made reference to. "Taking a peep thru the
hole in the grindstone" was one of the descriptive folksy tidbits quoted.
Airplanes are no longer aeroplanes. Now, they have fuselages, carburetors
(instead of carburettors) and make forced landings, rather than vol-planing.
Tom's house still has a "piazza" instead of a porch, which leads me to think
this author is the same one who wrote Big Tunnel.

I'm of the opinion that Tom's firefighting aircraft should have been named
Prometheus, rather than Lucifer. Prometheus, the Greek god who
brought mankind fire, also brought "signs in the sky."
http://messagenet.com/myths/bios/promethe.htmlLucifer brings
nothing but chaos and evil. Plus, there's the "falling" part of fallen angel...

Errata-After
four books in a row in Waterford, NY and two more in Waterfield,
in the previous tome, Mr. Damon's home town was not mentioned at all. In this
one, in one reference, Tom goes to Mr. D's home in Waterfield, but is
said to have traveled from his home in Waterford, earlier.The current tally of Damon's many moves stands at 11-Waterfield, 6-not
recorded or confused, and 10-Waterford, for 24 volumes, to date. The numbers
don't total, because two volumes have him residing in both places at
the same time and six others either do not specify a town name, or have
multiple references that change. This one is classified as 'confused,' but
leaning toward Waterfield...

Mary's Uncle Barton Keith is said to be her maternal uncle in the previous
volume. In this tale, she also has another uncle and aunt named Blake. Auntie
Noname must be the blood relative, but like almost all female characters (and
virtually all medical professionals) in these stories, she is a transparent
nobody that doesn't even rate a description.

Medical professionals do make house calls, but their ministrations seem
limited to administering "calming potions." On the other hand, an "Oculist"
pulls off a miraculous cure on Rad by unspecified means. Rad's eyes were burned
in a chemical explosion.

Speaking of Rad, he would own Swift Construction lock, stock and
barrel after being near-blinded while mixing chemicals at Tom's direction
without due care by his employer. No safety equipment of any kind was used and
"tottering" Rad should never have been tasked with this hazardous job,
unsupervised. "There was a "jar, a rush of air and the dull boom of an
explosion," followed by Rad crying out in pain. Tom's inane comment is "I hope
nothing serious has happened..."

Engineering and Science, Fact vs. Fantasy

The concept of flying over a burning building in a slow-flying wood and
fabric kite, painted with flammable lacquer, that is almost certainly leaking
oil (and maybe gasoline,) frankly scares the daylights out of me. That aside,
the idea of bombing a fire from above is well documented and is commonly used,
today, if not for burning skyscrapers.

How the "bombs" are constructed and the fire-suppression chemicals used in
the story aren't real, though. No amount of Carbon Dioxide dumped into a large
blaze from above would have the slightest effect. The tornadic updraft created
by the heat of a large blaze would dilute and dissipate the gas. The quantity of
suppressant required to fight a large fire is in the range of 40 to 60 tons
of material. Well beyond the lift capacity of any 20's style aircraft.

302nd Military Air
Wing Hercules Dumping MAFF Suppression Chemicals

Geography-
Shop-town (Shopton) is once again said to be named after the Swifts' factories.
Swift Construction has continually grown, and is now surrounded by a high
stockade fence. It is said that the proximity to the plant has made the Swifts'
Victorian-style home "unpleasant in summer." A cottage, further out in the
country, is said to be used as homestead during the warm months. The
"residential section" of Shopton is said to be near a river. This was mentioned
in the previous volume as "on the head of a bay" with apparent access to the
Atlantic Ocean. Lake Carlopa is not mentioned by name, in this tale.
Newmarket is said to be the nearest large city with "New York-style
skyscrapers." I'd think Albany (mentioned in the 1st episode) would
fit this bill, better. Shopton had previously been placed more-or-less on
Lake George (Carlopa), in upstate New York "near the Canadian border." (See
Giant Searchlight, Vol. #15.) The city of Denton is said to be 400 miles
distant in a unspecified direction. Perhaps consistency in geographical location
and detail wasn't important to the host of ghost-writers that churned out these
tales. Lack of coordination has reared its' ugly head, before...I like my
stories at least nominally uniform, as it makes them flow better.